Villain Retirement

Captain Nana seemed to have drawn the shortest amongst the shortest of the sticks as one calamity after the other strikes her.

She let a literal monster into her ship, and now they were under attack by pirates? Is this what she gets for trying to be a good person?

"..." Nana could really only continue to curse her fate as she stared at her console table; her eyes, looking at the warship that had its missiles locked onto them.

There really was only one option here, and that was to—

"It seems you are in trouble, Captain Nonoyo."

"Don't state the obvi—What are you doing here!?"

Nana almost leaped in shock as she didn't even notice Riley already kneeling behind her and also looking at the screen; his breaths, almost touching her shoulders.

"You—never mind. We need to escape! Aulus, get us out of here!"

"I… I'll try, mother!"

Riley may be a monster, but he wasn't the one threatening their lives right now. Fortunately for her, Riley seems to have quickly lost interest as he stood up and walked toward his female companion, who was looking out the window.

"This ship is too small," Hera breathed out as she noticed Riley approaching her.

"I believe in this case, we are the ones that are too big, Miss Hera."

"...I hate it when you're making sense."

"I always make sense, Miss Hera."

"...Right," Hera could really only slow her words as she once again focused on the view outside,

"It's weird, don't you think? All of these things are happening— space pirates, different species mingling with each other… all the while we're busy on Earth playing heroes and villains. I can definitely use this as a reference for future movies, this is amazing material right here."

"Will you be adapting this to the sci-fi series, Hera? The one where I was asked to audition."

"...That show was canceled a long time ago," Hera's eye slightly twitched.

"Why? I quite liked the script, Miss Hera."

"What do you mean why!? We almost cast the literal demon from hell!"

"Satan auditioned for your show?"

"What!? No! I meant you! Darkday!"

"Oh," Riley breathed out, "It's a shame, then."

"..." Hera could really only look at Riley as she heard his breaths of disappointment. She knew he wasn't trying to mess with her, but Riley always seem to manage to do so anyway.

"Y'know… you're acting more human now than you did before," she then sighed, "It suits you."

"Thank you, Miss Hera. I have been trying to be more human in the past year," Riley then said as he smiled at Hera; the corner of his lips… almost touching his ears.

"...Never mind," Hera quickly looked away from the alien beside her as she turned her focus back to the view outside.

There really wasn't much to see there; as unlike the movies, it just looked like a black canvas. But soon, however, the color of Hera's eyes started to change—no. It wasn't only the color, both her irises also separated into three as they somewhat became luminescent.

"..." Riley looked at Hera's reflection in the window, before stepping slightly closer to her,

"I always thought Tempo was the strongest member of the Hope Guild. But now I am thinking that it might actually be you, Miss Hera. Unfortunate, I would have liked to own that ability— that goes for all the members of the Hope Guild."

"I've always wondered about that… why didn't you? Copy our abilities, I mean," Hera's eyebrow slightly rose as she glanced at Riley.

"Because the Hope Guild responded too late," Riley shrugged, "Darkday was already too strong before you decided to take action against me."

"..."

"..."

"...Earth really is better without you, Riley."

"I agree, Miss Hera."

"...What even is your endgame here?" Hera then fully removed her eyes from the view outside; and before she could face Riley, her eyes were already back to normal.

"Endgame?" Riley tilted his head from the question.

"What do you want at the end of all of this?" Hera slightly squinted her eyes as she looked Riley in the eyes. At any other circumstance, her body would have already been trying to get her away from Riley as fast as possible—but right now, she knew she was the safest with him… especially since she is basically Megawoman's 'proxy'.

"When will you stop? When you've eradicated half the life in the universe? I mean, what's the goal here?"

"..." Riley blinked a couple of times as he tilted his head from Hera's sudden question. But after a few seconds, he returned her gaze and said,

"We're going to Theran to attend my biological mother's burial ceremony, Miss Hera."

"That—- never mind," Hera could really only sigh in frustration.

"And no, Miss Hera. I will not eradicate half of the Universe."

"Then—"

"But I will kill everyone that lives in it."

"..."

"..."

The conversation could and should probably end here. But for someone like Hera, it wasn't enough.

"Why?" She asked with a tiny breath.

"Because I want to."

"You need to have a very valid reason for that, Riley," Hera groaned, "Seriously, I think a therapist would have done you good… and maybe even Earth."

"You have a therapist, Miss Hera?"

"Every actor has one. In my case… it prevents me from forgetting who and what I am," Hera whispered, "My abilities… control me as much as I control it, you see."

"Hm," Riley let out a small hum as he looked at the window, "A reason for wanting to kill everyone… hm."

"..." Hera could really only take in a small gulp as Riley then looked back at her. Was she… finally going to unlock the secret behind Riley's character?

"My reason, Miss Hera…" Riley placed his hand on his chin,

"...I just want to."

"You… really are just a creature of destruction, aren't you?"

"I suppose," Riley shrugged.

"...And now Earth just unleashed you to the rest of the universe," Hera's eyebrows began to furrow, "Why haven't you killed us yet, then? Me and the other humans."

"I will never kill you, Miss Hera," Riley's eyes slightly widened, almost as if he was visibly surprised as to how Hera could even say something like that,

"You… are one of the voice actors of Italian Mafia Reborn."

"..."

"..."

"We're alive because of a fucking anime?"

"Yes, Miss Hera."

"...Great."

And while the two were casually having a somewhat serious conversation, Captain Nana and her crew were fearing for their lives.

"This is the scavenger ship Taladier! We don't have any valuables. We are not equipped with any weapons, please do not fire!"

Captain Nana screamed at her console as she saw the pirate ship still approaching them with their missiles locked on.

"I repeat, we—"

"They cut us off the comms, boss!"

"No!" Nana slammed her small fists on her table as she heard her crew's words. But after a few seconds of letting out heavy breaths, she looked at her helmsman,

"Transfer all the energy from the shield to hyperdrive."

"That— they'll hit us with a missile before we can blink away!"

"Just do it! It's better than sitting here like a trapped— Eep!"

And before Nana could finish her words, she once again felt a breath crawling through her neck. She slowly turned around, only to see Riley sitting on the floor so his eyes would be at the same level as hers.

"What… what is it?" Nana gulped.

"Do you perhaps…

…require some assistance, Captain Nonoyo?"